EVER wonder where the next generation of Lions is going to come from?
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Lions Clubs International is way ahead of you.
The organisation launched its first Leo Club in the USA in 1957.
Leo clubs - the Leo stands for leadership, experience and opportunity - are for people aged 12 to 30 who want to make a positive difference to their communities.
The first Leo Club in Australia was formed in Ingham in 1968. There are now more than 100 Leo clubs in Australia.
Each Leo Club is sponsored by a local Lions Club whose members advise and mentor the Leos.
And that's what happened when Gorokan-Kanwal Lions Club formed a Leo Club at Northlakes High School in September.
The Leo Club advisor is Lynda Elsley, a counsellor at the school.
The Northlakes Leo Club is known as an Alpha club.
"An Alpha club is based at a high school, whereas an Omega club is based in the community," Ms Elsley said.
In other news:
Thew club was officially chartered before Christmas.
Twenty-three students aged 12 to 18 from the school became Leos.
The club executive is president Izaak Starrett, secretary Emilee Leatham, and treasurer Braydon Cook.
Leo clubs initiate and get involved in projects that make their communities, and the world, a better place.
But that's only part of the picture.
"Leo clubs also focus on the individual and social development of students providing them with leadership, experiences and opportunities to increase their skills while making friends and having fun," Ms Elsley said.
The Northlakes group has been quick to get busy.
"Since the kids have joined Leos they have come together as a group full of enthusiasm," she said.
They've helped out at the school's Education Week activities and other events, visited elderly men at a local aged care facility for Father's Day, collected glasses for recycling through the Lions Eyesight Program, and run barbecues and cake stalls.
And they are driving an ongoing initiative called Belle of the Ball to provide disadvantaged students with a gown or suit for their year 12 formal.
"The Leos have also assembled toiletry bags for the homeless," Ms Elsley said.
